Distractions and adventures in the knitting world

Month: February 2018

That yarn chicken is an ugly bird, but it is motivating. So…. I thought I would have a finished hat to post until I realized that I did not have enough yarn to finish it. While it was the tiniest bit sad, I did manage to finally get rid of the yarn, in addition, this weekend I finished 2 ounces that were on my spinning wheel, tried to spin up some fiber ( bought at the Madron Fiber Festival) which din;t go well and after a fair amoung of looking at my queue I wound up some cashmere to knit up a shawlette by Andrea Mowery.

The written word is a tricky thing. Context and tone can be difficult to convey when typing a post.. so I need to stress this I have found a newly appreciated way for watching people go to a yarn convention (I cannot call it a knitting convention because when I go, very little knitting actually gets accomplished).

In past years when I have been watching the Instagram feed and living vicariously through others texting friends, I have missed out on the gloriousness of finding a quiet full-service bar with a good menu and enjoying a glass of a nice wine with some sides of pasta.

I hope this doesn’t sound depressing, but let’s talk about all of the positives here:

There is not the loud noise of being in an acoustic box and hear 400-500 people have multiple conversations

There is no pushing or bumping
You are not weighed down toting a large bag around all day and multiple purchases.

There is wine

Your family is not around and there is no one asking anything from you…. In fact, the bartender is asking what he or she can do for you.

No achy feet, you are sitting.

There is good food, no hotel food or cafe food.

No rush or waiting to get a table.

There are no people… this sounds callous but if you recognize yourself for what you are an introvert this is actually a good thing. This means that you won’t feel drained by the end of the day or for the couple of hours that you are out at a restaurant.

The retreat is clean and there is no clutter. When watching Instagram at home it can be distracting to see the Legos on the floor or an unmade bed….. let’s face it it is also less painful if there are no legos to step on.

Knitting time… I love seeing friends but there does seem to be the familiar exercise when you go home are greeted by your spouse and see the “ I have had the kid all weekend. Tag your it” and then get the question” Did you have a good time knitting” when you are secretly thinking “What time knitting? I went out with friends and bought yarn, I have had no time to knit”

Sure, going to these fiber festivals and yarn conventions is great place to see your friends and hang out, but I think this year I have figured out a way to maximize my enjoyment if I don’t go to one #illhaveanotherglass

There were snow flurries this past weekend and it has continued on and off through the week. The cold is my major motivation for casting on a new project. I am really trying to maximize my stash, my queue, and patterns. Surprisingly it is not limiting, in fact, it is oddly freeing. I picked projects and yarn and I am finally getting a chance to enjoy them.

I am going to out myself here and admit that I have a couple of bowls of yarn in my living room that just sit there. Most of these house partial skeins. I don’t really photograph them, but I think eventually I will use them. Funny thing about my intention to do this because I just haven’t followed through with it, the yarn just sits there. These partials have too much to be thrown away and too little to be used on a one skein project. This seems to be one of the downfalls of my colorwork knitting. I always seem to think that when I have about 70-100 yards, I should save the yarn for colorwork project I will do later.

The amount I had saved was perfect for casting on Izel. It is a pattern by Veronica who co-owns YOTH with her brother. It has been in my queue for a while and I paired it with some gradient handspun I have along with a skein of Heather Aran I bought last September when I visited Jamieson’s in Shetland. I am going to trash what every remnants (I see this as progress) I have left after this project and then I am contemplating using some Shelter by Brooklyn Tweed (in the bowl filled with yarn) and casting on another hat. I figure that 2 projects out of 4 skeins should make it look like I made the tiniest dent in the bowl currently housed in my living room #winning.

A belated happy New Year to everyone. It has been a wonderfully comfortable start to the new year on the knitting and crafting front. As mentioned in earlier posts I am going to take it a bit easier than usual. I have never been so “chill” with my knitting time. It is really freeing to just knit a few rows when I have time. It is a bit of a foreign concept for me to try knitting this way. I usually get sucked down the rabbit hole of seeing how many things I can finish or want to try out a pattern that I had “favorited” on Ravelry.

Hedd Mitts by Trin- Annelie I only used partial skeins and I still had a bunch leftover.

I am slowly chugging along on the Ilia sweater and finished a recent test knit. I have also been watching the last custom orders of yarn come in from 2017, which while numerous, feels okay since I am “cold sheeping” in 2018.

I have seen this knit up in person and it seems to be different than other cashmere I have seen. I think it looks like it has more body and will be more resistant to excessive pilling. I don’t think pilling is avoidable with cashmere, but I think this looks like a good workhorse cashmere.Okay, to be honest, I really want to buy more of the new Halo Worsted from the Plucky Knitter, but a deal is a deal and I am “cold sheeping” this year.

Trying not to buy patterns has been harder than not buying yarn, but when I realize I am only focusing on a couple of projects this year, it really feels like I haven’t lost anything. I can always buy the pattern or yarn next year. This level of moderation seems oddly freeing, and I don’t feel I am deprived of anything. I really wish I could transfer this methodology to my relationship with food.